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Monday, 12 April 2010

Happiness is Homemade

What could be better than to indulge in a sweet homemade post-dinner dessert?

It amazes me how easy it is to be able to enjoy a wonderful tasting dessert in the comforts of our own home. Chocolate Fondue is such a luscious dessert that I used to assume it is too difficult to do at home. Even though I have no problem making the chocolate sauce, I do not own a special fondue pot. I have always thought that it is a must to warm the chocolate sauce with a fondue pot. You need the little candle at the bottom of the pot to provide heat to prevent the chocolate sauce from solidifying. I am not the sort who would rush out to get a piece of utensil or equipment which can only be used for one single purpose. So, it has never in my mind to create this at home.

My search for a chocolate fondue recipe only began after my better half asked me one day, out of the blue, whether I could make him this dessert. I googled and searched and most recipes would recommend the use of a fondue pot, until I finally landed on this one. According to this cooking site, a normal bowl should keep the chocolate sauce warm for about 20 minutes. This is good news as I know our family would never have to take that long to finish up the chocolate fondue ;)

You do not need any special gourmet skills to make chocolate fondue. The one basic important requirement for a good tasting chocolate fondue is to use good quality chocolate, ie the best that you could afford! I have low tolerance for any sort of kitchen failures, and hence, I have since developed the good habit of following recipes diligently, but this time, I threw cautions to the wind. I used cheap eating chocolates instead of premium ones...although I did have the sanity to choose a semi-sweet flavour over a regular milk chocolate. The other thing that I didn't follow at all is the type of cream to melt the chocolate with. Most recipes would point to heavy cream, but I decided to use low-fat milk, we really do not need the extra fat.

My kitchen experiment was a huge success, the chocolate sauce was at the right consistency, not too thick and gooey and yet not too thin. The chocolate would envelope the fruits nicely without dripping all over. You can always use a fork to dip your fruits, but I serve mine with wooden skewers or satay sticks, as my children love making their own 'fruit' satay. We could have taken longer than 20mins to finish up the fondue (I probably took away 5mins to take photos!), the sauce remained 'dip-able' right till the end. If you have not tried this at home, don't wait any longer!

Homemade Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

(makes 125ml chocolate sauce, serves 2 ~3)

100g good-quality semi-sweet chocolate

65ml milk (I use low-fat fresh milk)

Method:

- Break chocolates into small cubes/chunks.

- Place milk and chocolate in a clean and dry saucepan. Place on stove and heat at the Lowest heat possible. It will take less than a minute for the chocolate to start to melt. Once the chocolate starts to melt, stir the mixture till all the chocolates is melted. To prevent the chocolate from burning, remove the saucepan from heat as and when needed.

- Transfer chocolate sauce to a bowl. Serve with favourite fruits and marshmallows.

Hi HHB,Thanks for sharing this "easy way" for fondue! I'm also like you, don't want to buy such apparatus and use less than 5 times a year, I think. This method you share is so practical and convenient. The assortment of fruits that you have really brighten up the picture! So neaty arranged, and looks so yummy!

i am thinking of heating the choc n milk in a metal bowl over saucepan of boiling water. That way, choc wont burnt and i can serve directly with the bowl. What do you think, HHB? Will this method work? Haha, i am always thinking of short cuts that still produce good result :PMay

Oooooo, my girls will sure love to have this at home. May be I should try this out one day and give them a surprise.Actually i seldom let them eat sweet or chocolate, i catagorized these as junk food. Some of my friends felt pity on my girls. I will sure buy the good quality one if I were to make this.My elder girl ever asked me if I know chocolate is good for health as she read it from Young Scientist saying chocolate is good. (try to convince me to let her eat. ha ha)

I like your photo. All the photo you put up in your blog look very nice!

its indeed homemade happiness! Recently I just mentioned to my bf about haagen dazz fondue and said i wanna go and eat. I'd never thought of making your own at home without a fondue pot. Next time when we have our home, will definitely give this a try. Hey i think my ramekin is same as yours too! :)

Hi Wong, we are a Junk Food Family! What to do when both parents can't live without junk food ;p Don't worry too much about giving junk food to your child, as long as we eat everything in moderation, I am sure we will be fine :) I give chocolates, chips, soft drinks to my kids as treats, but I don't stock up on them. On the other hand, I also make sure they have lots of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains in their diet. Chocolate fondue is one good way of having a sweet treat and yet without feeling too guilty about it since it is served with fruits. An occasional indulgence should be ok lah ;)

Aimei, how nice! I have tried haagen dazz fondue, it is good, I went with my gfs :)

Hi Anonymous, I didnt use good quality chocolate ;) As mentioned in my post, I used cheaper ones, Van Houten's Semi Sweet chocolates.

i loooove fondues. so easy and very convenient! just melt some chocolate cut up some fruits and a wonderful dessert is served. sometimes when i run out of melting chocolates, i just warm up a jar of Nutella over a bain marie with some milk to thin it out....Nutella fondue! luscious and a total treat. try it out and see if your family get hooked! ;)

I made this at home without the fondue pot too :) But I don't present it so beautifully :P What I did was, I poured the chocolate into a small bowl and let it sit in a bigger bowl filled with hot water. That will keep the chocolate from solidifying for a longer period of time. Of course, your pictures make this look just so appetising!